Paul is 17 and he makes me smile. Unfortunately, this is one of the few smiling pictures I have ever taken of him so some of you may not recognize him. He has his own unique way of looking at things, but he's very consistent so there's not any mystery. Paul's a deep thinker. He waits a while before he says anything, but he's thought it all out, thoroughly, and his arguments- while unique- are usually based in pure logic. But life is rarely logical, so he has his work cut out for him trying to convince us! Paul just got his driver's permit- (we have the kids wait til they're 17 for their learner's and 18 for their driver's.) At any rate, I have to say kids learning to drive can be stressful on the parents- no surprise there- but Paul learning... a walk in the park. Because he's thought it all out for years in advance, he gets behind the wheel and ... well, let me tell ya... It's been the most fun I've ever had in this process! I mention that the speed limit is 55 in this section of road but that it increases to 60 after the bridge. He simply says that he won't be going above 55 because it isn't fuel efficient. Works for me. (Remind me to leave a little early when we need to get somewhere on time.) When a car passes us he yells, "I'm saving the world here!" When we come to our road, he starts to stategize for the incline coming up a half mile down... building speed in the dip- coasting up the hill- just barely making it over the crest without applying the gas. His fist in the air, "Fuel crisis averted!" So no shenanigans for him and no speeding. How cool is that for Mom's nerves? And, as you can tell, Paul has a great sense of humor. He's in love with a gal named Veronica- a dilapidated Volkswagen bus sitting in a barren field by the road that he's been mooning over. Apparently they're fuel efficient. He loves the kids and is very generous with them. And he has a thing for beverages. Weird, really, but there it is. He doesn't do dessert, but get him a bottle of juice and he is one happy camper. He collects unusual combinations and will visit various stores because of their variety in juices. He's a wonderful guy and we love him to pieces.
His feast theme was "simplicity." And it was. He had pizza rolls for his appetizer, chicken tenders and fettuccine alfredo for his meal. Apple crisp and ice cream for dessert. His table was minimalistic with two farmer's lanterns and that's all. He even used paper plates to make clean-up simple. His gifts were bowls in different colors- so that Eva, the dish washer, would know who hadn't washed their own cereal bowl in the mornings. Very thoughtful. It was relaxing and we only had to return to the store once to buy more food because he was afraid we wouldn't have enough- worried he hadn't thought it out enough. I think the chance of driving might have had an influence in that decision.
2 comments:
Love, love, love that smile!! Even when he is smiling, he "knows things"! And even when he is not smiling he is totally handsome.
I think I laughed the hardest reading this. I even had to read it out loud to his uncle! LOL And you are correct, I didn't recognize him with the smile. Tell him Aunt Lisa says, we need to see it more often!.
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